Investigating the relationship between alexithymia, D personality type and emotional expression styles

Dissertation for Master's Degree in Psychology (M.A)

Tension: General

Abstract

Emotional expression is the bridge between inner experiences and the outer world and plays a key role in mental health. Therefore, considering the importance and significant impact of emotional expression on health, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between alexithymia, D personality type and emotional expression styles (emotional expressiveness, emotional control, and ambivalence in emotional expression). The samples examined in this research were selected from the students of Azad University of Ilam in the academic year 2013-2014, which included 182 people (91 men and 91 women), and the Toronto Alexithymia Questionnaire (TAS), D personality type questionnaire, emotional expressiveness questionnaire (EEQ), emotional control questionnaire (ECQ), ambivalence in emotional expression questionnaire (AEQ) were used to evaluate the selected samples. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics (frequency, central indices and calculation of correlation coefficient) and inferential statistics (from Pearson correlation, t-test). The results indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between alexithymia and emotional inhibition and positive emotion expression, and a significant negative relationship between alexithymia and aggression control and benign control. A significant positive relationship was observed between personality type D and rumination or mental review and expression of positive emotion and ambivalence in expressing entitlement, and a significant negative relationship was observed between personality type D and benign control; Therefore, according to the obtained results, personality type D and alexithymia are related to emotional expression styles, and knowledge of these relationships can be useful in treating these people. Keywords: alexithymia, personality type D, emotional expression styles. Out of 46 million people in America only suffer from emotional and mood disorders (Kessler[1] et al., 1994; quoted by Vakili Abbasalilo, 2013). The huge impact of these problems on the life process of people and society (including health and treatment costs, job loss, interpersonal problems, etc.), has caused a significant number of researches to be focused on this issue. The results of the conducted research include the introduction of cognitive patterns, personality, family relationships, etc., to understand the causes of the mentioned problems. Emotions and emotions are an important and essential part of human life in such a way that it is difficult to imagine life without them. The characteristics and changes of emotions, how to communicate emotionally and understand and interpret the emotions of others play an important role in the development and organization of personality, moral transformation and social relations, and the formation of identity and self-concept (Latafabadi, 2019). Emotion is a mental emotion that affects thoughts, behavior, and the body and is affected by them (Maskan [2] et al., 2000). Expression of emotion also has a great impact on interpersonal relationships (Kandy Moore[3] and Watson[4], 2001). In general, excitement can be studied in two ways. 1. Examining the effect of the emotional content of the received information and 2. Examining the effect of the emotional state of the person during memorization. Emotional expressiveness as a main component of emotions refers to the external display of emotion regardless of the value (positive or negative) or the method (facial, verbal or physical) (Lewis [5], 2000). Accordingly, some people express their emotions freely without worrying about the consequences. These people have a way of expressing emotion, of the type of emotional expression[6] (Emmons and Colby[7], 1995). Others tend to inhibit expressing their emotional responses. These people have an emotional inhibition type of expression (King [8] and Emmons, 1990). In investigating the causes and factors affecting the style of emotional expression, personality types[9] have been among the variables discussed in this field, among the different personality types, personality type D has recently received the attention of researchers (Lim[10] et al., 2011).

Personality type D has two components: negative emotion and social inhibition. Negative affectivity is characterized by the tendency to express negative emotions. People with high negative affect tend to experience negative affect at all times, regardless of the situation (Denault [11], 1998). Negative affect may act as both an intervening variable and an actual risk factor (Denault et al., 2000).

Social inhibition is characterized by a persistent tendency to inhibit emotional and behavioral experiences in social interactions.People with high social inhibition tend to prevent negative reactions from others through excessive control of self-expression (not expressing and clarifying their opinions and characteristics) (Imonsa [12] et al., 2007) and this approach causes lasting disturbances in these people; Therefore, in this topic, the relationship between alexithymia and emotional expression styles and D personality type has been investigated. 1-2- Expressing the problem The skill in expressing emotions makes it easier to deal with life's challenges and leads to an increase in mental health in such people (King and Emmons, 1990). People who are emotionally capable recognize their feelings in different situations, understand their implicit concepts and effectively express their emotional states to others. Compared to people who do not have the ability to understand and express their emotional states, these people are more successful in coping with negative experiences and show better adaptation in relation to the environment and others (Golman [13], 1995). And it was used to describe people whose lack of emotional capacity leads to failure in describing emotions and putting them into words (Mejer[16] et al., 2006). Alexithymia as a multiple disorder includes difficulty in identifying emotions [17], difficulty in describing emotions [18] and extroverted thinking style [19]. In general, alexithymia can be considered as a defect in the representation of emotions, cognitive processing and regulation of interpersonal emotional states (Taylor[20] and Bagby[21], 2004). Therefore, alexithymia or emotional deficiency as a cognitive-emotional phenomenon refers to a specific disorder in mental functioning that occurs as a result of the process of automatic inhibition of information and emotional feelings. The inability to evaluate and express emotions has been associated with alexithymia (Bagby et al., 1994).

In connection with alexithymia, various components have been proposed, among which we can mention D personality type and emotional expression styles. Psychopathology researchers believe that the inability to use and improve emotional regulation skills is a predictor of a person's psychological damage in the future. For this reason, when a person faces an emotional situation, feeling good and optimistic is not enough to control emotions, but he needs to have the best cognitive function in these situations (Rizvan et al., 2006). In this regard, Parker [22] et al. (1993) and Quinton [23] and Wagner [24] (2005) have reported that alexithymia is related to ambivalence in emotional expression. Emotional expression is one of the important dimensions and provider of mental health and plays a key role in mental health; Because if emotions are not expressed, traumatic memories along with suppressed emotions lead to unconscious resistance and traumatic symptoms. From the perspective of cognitive science, emotions are known as a group of schemas based on information processing, which include symbolic and non-symbolic processes and representations. Decreased expression of emotions basically indicates a kind of lack or dysregulation of emotions. In the same way, damage in emotional processing capacities based on emotional inadequacy may be a possible risk factor for various mental health problems. Ambivalence in emotional expression is the tendency to express emotion but not being able to express it, expressing emotion without real desire, expressing it and then regretting it (King and Emmons [25], 1990). Ambivalence in emotional expression may be defined as rapidly changing or simultaneously intense and conflicting emotional feelings about a subject (King, 1998). Emotional control and ambivalence in emotional expression are two styles of emotional expression. In terms of emotional control, capable people recognize their feelings, understand their implicit concepts and express their emotional states to others more effectively. Some people express their emotions freely without worrying about the consequences; Others are conservative in conveying emotional states, and some review uncomfortable emotions in their minds, and people may be expressive or non-expressive, but at the same time, they are conflicted about their expressive style (King and Colby, 1995).